Jewels at the Santa Monica Farmers Market

This week at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market the jewels of the season glow. Among my favorites? The rainbow carrots in orange, ruby, purple and gold. Some roots were so young they were the tiniest of crooked fingers, delicate and naturally sweet. These carrots make wonderful crudities for hummus.

Persimmons. Just the word make my lips pucker. I can almost taste the astringency just by saying it. I suppose I ought to confess I've never eaten a persimmon in my life. I am a persimmon virgin. But my pal Kalyn over at Kalyn's Kitchen has persimmon experience (she advises, "Regarding the persimmons, you must remember to get FUYU PERSIMMONS. Repeat it like a mantra, Fuyu, Fuyu. The Hachiya persimmons are astringent and taste terrible until they are ripened to the point of being soft and almost liquid, but Fuyus can be eaten like an apple at almost any stage of ripeness.").

The Brassicaceae family and I do not get along. So I cannot indulge in these Easter colored egg-evocative root vegetables. Radishes do not a happy tummy make, in this kitchen. But I can admire their globular loveliness just the same. Aren't they beautiful?